


Turkeys to Blame

by StegesaurusKay



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Semi sick fic, West Wing AU, mention of violent turkeys, random dialog exercise, workaholic Alex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:20:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21596500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StegesaurusKay/pseuds/StegesaurusKay
Summary: President Washington regrets agreeing to an early morning meeting in the Oval Office, especially once he finds a sniffling Alexander Hamilton on his couch... and even more so when the conversation turns to an embarrassing incident from the day before.Or, the one after Communications Director Alex arranged a photo op, and Washington was attacked by turkeys.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 56





	Turkeys to Blame

President Washington isn’t sure why he agreed to a meeting so early in the morning the day before Thanksgiving. There’s surprisingly little going on that requires his attention, and rare as that is he shouldn’t have passed up a chance to sleep later than six. He waves off a steward’s offer of coffee and makes his way to the Oval Office.

To his surprise Alex is not waiting for him. Alex, who insisted on the meeting. Alex, who bristled at the idea of time off when he sees so much work to do. Alex, who will probably work the whole weekend through. Alex, who-

A stuffy snore interrupts his thoughts. Washington slowly turns.

Alex, who is curled up on a couch, face half buried in a throw pillow. His hair is loose, suit rumpled, and an obvious flush of pink across his cheeks. On the floor next to him is a small pile of folders, notebooks, various papers.

For a long moment Washington stares down at the couch. He should wake him- Alex is the one who wanted the meeting, after all. Wanted a meeting this early because to him sleep is a waste of time. When he coughs and shifts uncomfortably in his sleep, Washington can’t bring himself to do it. Ultimately he steps away and returns to his desk. Long weekend or no, there’s never a shortage of information to read up on.

He works nearly an hour before the steady snores from the couch shift into alternating rounds of wheezes, coughing, and sniffs. When Washington looks up from an uninteresting brief he spots Alex shifting on the couch, eyes slowly opening, bleary and unfocused. It takes a few seconds for the sleepy haze to fade enough for Alex to realize where he is, a couple more to realize he’s not alone.

“Mister President! Shit! I, sir—” Alex vaults to his feet, though the abrupt movement leaves him dizzy. He braces himself against the arm of the couch to keep from falling. The look of embarrassed dismay only increases the heated flush of his face.

“Sit down, Alex, before you fall down,” Washington’s tone is more blunt than he feels.

Alex barely needs to be told- he plops back onto the couch, stifles a cough, and tries to smooth out his hair. “My apologies. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I was just going to close my eyes for a few minutes and—"

“Did you sleep in your office?”

“Sleep?”

“When’s the last time you slept in your own bed?” Washington rises from his desk. The boy chews his lip a moment, fidgets with the edge of his crumpled jacket.

“Sunday?”

“We’ve discussed this,” Washington sighs. With a moment’s pause, he counts to ten in his head. Maintaining an impassive expression is always difficult when it comes to Alex, especially when he is so careless of his own health. “You’re of no use to me as a zombie.”

“Sir,” Alex speaks over an unwelcome cough. “I assure you, I’m able to work. I haven’t had any coffee yet this morning, and…”

“And?”

A sniffle, “And I may have a cold. But really, it’s nothing. Sir, about our meeting. I know you may not have the time now, but—”

Alex is trying to shift the conversation back his way. Talk about work, focus on work, just work.

“About the turkeys yesterday…”

Washington sits back and rolls his eyes. Oh please, not again. “Is that what this is about? If you wanted a meeting at seven in the morning just to apologize for-”

“Not entirely, but yes, partly.”

“We’ve been over this.”

“There are a lot of pictures, stories online that are… less than flattering.”

“Commander-in-chief nearly bitten by ungrateful pardoned turkeys?”

Alex shrugs, and something behind his eyes tells Washington that he’s memorized every single headline. “Some of them are a little more clever than that, but still, it’s an embarrassment for you, and if I’d known the birds were going to _attack_ you I’d have never arranged that photo op.”

“If I’d known I wouldn’t have pardoned the turkeys.”

“It’s a little late for that now, sir.”

Suddenly Washington sees through the conversation. Alex is trying to distract him. He’ll work in an otherwise empty building the whole weekend through, all the while suffering through whatever cold or flu has invaded his body this time.

That just won’t do.

“Forget about the turkeys. The country will have a laugh, whether they voted for me or not, and by Monday the story will be forgotten.”

“Sir…”

“What are your plans for tomorrow?”

A blink, “Tomorrow, sir?”

This is no surprise. For all his genius, leave it to Alex to neglect so much as glancing at a calendar, healthy or not.

“Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Surely you weren’t planning to work when nobody else will be.”

Alex shifts- Washington recognizes the look in his eyes. He is considering, more than considering it.

“It would be quieter,” He admits with a shrug. A sniffle, another cough. “I didn’t have any plans, sir.”

No of course not. The boy would work a twelve hour day, snacking between a bag of chips and a cold sandwich before collapsing wherever the next time.

That won’t do.

“If you don’t have plans, then I insist you join my family for dinner.”

Alex stiffens and quickly rises to his feet again, “I- sir, I couldn’t-“ He trails off with a wheeze that quickly dissolves into another round of coughing.

“You’d turn down a request from the President of the United States?”

There’s a pause mid cough. Alex stares up at him, eyes watering, and instinctively shakes his head, “Never, sir.”

“Good.”

“But, I-“

Washington holds up a hand and Alex’s mouth snaps shut. “Air Force One is scheduled to leave in the afternoon tomorrow. That gives you more than twenty-four hours to pick up some cough medicine, go home, and get some actual, _real_ sleep before you kill yourself.”

With that Alex flushes a deeper shade of red. There’s a flicker in his eyes that tells Washington he’s strongly considering skipping one or more of these steps.

“I could have a member of the Secret Service escort you.”

It’s a threat. It works.

“Not necessary, sir. I- I’ll go.” Alex leans over to gather his discarded notes near the couch, keenly aware that he’s being watched.

“You can leave your notes with me, in case you’re tempted to continue working once you get home. I’m sure you have ideas beyond biting birds in there. We can discuss on the plane tomorrow.”

“Sir?”

“Anything but the turkeys.”

Another long stretch of silence passes. Alex’s focus shifts from his pile of papers and notebooks, to the president, and back. At last his shoulders slump and he moves a few steps forward, hands over the stack with a mumbled, “Yes, sir.”

And then he excuses himself, leaving before Washington can make good on the threat of having the secret service escort him to a pharmacy and then home.

Washington smiles to himself once the door clicks safely shut. He sets Alex’s notes on the corner of the desk, makes a mental note to look at them later, and then takes a seat, returning to his own work. Should nothing else happen today, at least he’s breached the stubborn wall that is Alexander Hamilton.

And the papers can write that the President of the United States is soft on turkey crimes.

All in all, he’ll count both as minor successes. At least, for now. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! Thanks for reading!
> 
> If you enjoyed this random bout of dialog and craziness check out my tumblr. More of my short fics that aren't tumblr ready are [right here](https://stegekay.tumblr.com/post/185373224799/hamilteaser-masterlist).
> 
> Happy Thanksgiving!


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